Sunday 30 November 2008

Seconds @ Waverley 2 (Wed, Nov 26, 08)

will Kerr v Niven simpson 0-3. Tony Gribben v Douglas kempsell 0-3. Robert Pfab v Mike reid 0-3. Alan Stokes v Paul osinski 3-1. Michael Scott v Damien Noade 0-3. Grange 5- Wav 20. Waverley had an experienced team out and although some of the games were close wav always seemed to have the edge.

seconds @ Abercorn (Wed, 19 Nov, 08)

Will Kerr V A Mckenzie 3-2. Tony Gribben v Bob Taylor 3-2 alan v g williams 3-1. mike Scott v Kevin Mcoll 3-1. Peter Cockburn v K robertson 3-0 20 points to Grange. grange met a slightly weak team due to Ab have players out etc so we won convincigly

Friday 28 November 2008

Grange 3 home v Waverley 4 on 28th November 2008

Another successful night for the thirds who are really getting a roll on over the last few weeks. This time it was against some promotion-rival opposition which makes the 14-7 scoreline all the more valuable.

Mark Dutton went on first at No 4 against John Usher and like most weeks to date completely failed to get down to business in the first game and turned up to play only in the second. John was quite a tough opponent and in particular the enormous backhand crosscourts that he could unleash at will. Those big backhands, combined with a very deceptive backhand drop left Mark floundering (and diving)on numerous occasions. The second game just eluded him at 9-10 and the third was a close tussle too until three more of those backhands finished it off quick-smart. 0-3 for the first loss of the season.

Russell Langley went on at No5 against Neil Kimpsell and picked up his fourth 3-0 victory in a row. Russell played well within himself and was able to comfortably cope with Neil's occasional bouts of resistance by stepping up a gear when needed.

Patrick Langley was next at No 3 against young whippet David Munro. This reporter only managed to see the third game but if that was representative then it was a very good tussle indeed. David was a very fast and agile player with a big hit and excellent touch...but our own whippet was'nae a slouch either. Patrick played an excellent third game to come back from 4-7 down and responded to all of the young lad's tricks with some pretty tricksy hobbit stuff of his own and took the thoroughly entertaining match 3-0.

Next up at No 2 was Christy Looby against Damien Noade. Christy played very well for long periods and was able to dominate Damien but then would let himself down with some losses of focus and Damien would be back in it. Christy was dominating overall though and found himself 2-1 up in games and having closed out the third on a high the gallery was thinking that the wrap up was a formality. However, Damien really came out of the box and reeled off a sequence of unanswerable points and it was all Christy could do to stop the train with few handouts and points towards the end of the game. The final game was well fought but Damien pulled away at the end. 2-3.

Pete Cockburn opened up in very good form in his first game at No 1 against Don Shearer and was off the court in just a few minutes. Sterner resistance from Don in the second was also overcome by Pete but the third game was a different story with Pete losing to set up what promised to be an interesting and entertaining final two games. In the final analysis it only took the one and Pete continued his recent very good form to dominate the game in the face of some spirited resistance. 3-1.

Next week we take on Waverley 3 and despite their apparent ranking were convincingly beaten by this Waverley 4 crew in a recent outing, so we'll be looking for a good result at Suffolk Road to consolidate our spot at the top of the table at the end of the first half of the season.

Thursday 27 November 2008

Grange Firsts home v Tyne (Wed, Nov 26, 08)

Good win for the Grangers last night

Allan (Hamer) made his reliable return with a 3-0 win over Dave Jubb at 1, close and Allan wasn't playing great but just too quick and fit (9/7 10/8 9/2). Ian Green stepped it up and took out their number two Alan 3-1 (9/6 3/9 10/8 9/4).

Chris Mair ran out of puff and lost 3-2 to teenage prodigy Dan McEwen (9/7 9/3 7/9 5/9 2/9), Brian Buchanan had a comfortable win over Nigel pearman at four, 3 nil (9/1 9/1 9/5). Quote from a spectator "controlled agression. Brian would say 'That's a very good shot' when Nige would blast a roller into the nick, but Brian would say it in a tone of voice that said you'll-have-to-hit-27-consecutive-shots-like-that-to beat-me."

Mike Perring wrapped things up with a 3-1 win at 5 over Graham Morrison (6/9 9/0 9/0 9/6).

4 matches to 1, 17-7 Grange win after marking points (we didn't have a qualified counter) CM (CL)

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Grange Open 2008 - Results/Photos!

Called up for the prizes were...
(Click to zoom in)
Front: Elaine Inglis(Ladies champ), Brydie MacLearnon(Ladies R-up & Titan Sports sponsors), Eric Donohoe(C winner), Dougie Brown(C R-up)
Middle:
Karen Kennedy (Ladies plate), Allan Tasker (Open R-up), Peter O'Hara(Open champ), Chris Mair (B winner), Craig Pounder (B plate), Nick Wood(B R-up), Andy MacLearnon (Titan Sports, sponsors)
Back:
Jonathan Frame (C plate), Jonathan McBride (Open plate)

Open scores
Ladies scores
B scores
C scores

Click here for a summary of the final by the runner-up

While the finalists examine the loot downstairs, there are interested spectators looking down from the gallery....
(click to zoom in)
Gallery L-R: 2 of Elaine Inglis' fan club ;-), Fiona MacLaren, Alasdair Gordon, James Looby, Mr Tasker(Senior), Robin Pollok, Fiona Johnston, Alan Stokes, Mike Perring
Court L-R: Peter O'Hara making acceptance speech, Eric Donohoe, Jonathan McBride, Nick Wood, Allan Tasker, Chris Mair, Elaine Inglis, Brydie MacLearnon, Jonathan Frame, Andy MacLearnon(obscured)

Monday 24 November 2008

Firsts home v Waverley, Wed, Nov 19, 08)

Awaiting captain's report, here is some info from Chris Mair when I met him in the corridoor...
Ian Green at #1 got nothing from Chris Ferguson 0-3
Brian Buchanan #2 close but no cigar v Iain Murray 0-3
Chris Mair #3 likewise v Andrew Leitch, puffing a bit in the 4th.
Mike Perring #4 got the sole win of the night 3-2.
Ali G had a gruelling at #5 against Dave Ferguson who said it was the best match he'd played in years, 2-3

Overall 1-4, 8-17 on points. CL

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Dalgety Bay 3 vs Grange 3 Monday 17th Nov 2008

The third team's success on their travels continued with a convincing 18-2 win over Dalgety Bay 3rds. Lots of miles racked up over two weeks of visits to Dunbar and Dalgety Bay but a 36 point haul makes that worthwhile.

Mark Dutton started proceedings at No 5 against Sandy Lax and unlike the slow starts of previous weeks got on top right away and moved further away as the match went on, winning the last game with only a single hand-out conceded. A 3-0 win that maintained the undefeated start to the season.

RusselL Langley also did the 3-0 business on Bob Russell at No 4 (his 3rd 3-0 in a row) and also closed out the match with a 9-0 in the third game to underline his dominance.

Patrick Langley at No 3 was likewise untroubled by Peter Jones and closed out a 3-0 win.

Pete Cockburn at No 2 was dominant for the majority of his match with Scott Drummond. Scott looked quite handy and retrieved well and made Pete work for all his winners, but that was really all he could do as Pete played a good, controlled game to keep him at the back of the court. A 3-0 win was the result.

Dougie Brown at No 1 met some sterner resistance from Ken Clements. Doug's touch and depth/width play weren't initially up to his own standards and Ken was able to touch-shot him to a 1-2 game position. Doug got his act together a little more in the fourth game to deny ken the chances and that trend magnified in the final game which Doug won easily. 3-2 to Doug.

Apart from savouring the 18 points, the team also thoroughly enjoyed the lashings of Chicken Sweet and Sour at the t'riffic little pub they took us to after the match.

Grange 3 beat Dalgety Bay 3 by 18 points to 2.

Friday 14 November 2008

Firsts away v Watsonians 3 (Tues 11.11.08

It was close early on, but we finished well:

5. Mike Callaghan V Ton G 0-9, 9-7, 8-10, 3-9
4. Andy Forest V Ali G 3-9 , 9-5 , 5-9, 6-9
3. Gordon Fruish V Chris Mair 3-9, 4-9, 2-9
2. Ally Carruth V Brian 3-9, 9-8, 7-9, 9-1, 5-9
1. Mike Sinclair V Ian Green 9-4, 7-9, 5-9, 4-9

More good matches with Watsonians. A 20-5 win for the mighty Grangers.

Grange 3 vs Dunbar 2 away 13/11/2008

Grange 3 faced a Dunbar 2 very much weakened by some top team absences and their pre-match warnings not to expect too hard a match turned out to not be the subtle psychological trick we'd expected...ie an 18-1 win to Grange 3 on the night.

Bizarrely, everybody's match followed exactly the same pattern, with all of us initially making heavy weather in their first games of seeing off opponents that we really ought to have beaten comfortably. I won't go into any individual detail of each match as they were all following the same script. I'll just summarise by saying that after everybody got their heads together they all won in fine style going away...

1 Christy Looby v Richard Baty 3-0
2 Patrick Langley v Graeme Jones 3-0
3 Russell Langley v Alan Murphy 3-0
4 Mark Dutton v John Brown 3-1
5 Jonathan Frame v Neil Black 3-0

Thirds @ Dunbar II (Thurs, Nov 13, '08)

Mark Dutton at #4 and fresh from his sojourn to Vietnam got us off to a good start 3-0 against John. Jonathan at #5 was making a match of it but never really in doubt, his opponent had a dodgy tummy and just made it to match ball before running off to the bathroom.
Russell against their #3 who holds a disabled badge, very entertaining with the gallery enjoying the ironic celebrations from their guy every time he won a point. 3-0. Patrick Langley at #2 had a slow start but recovered to take it 3-0 against Graham. Christy was crushing the ball so their number 1 tried to match him, to the extent that he twinged his hamstring. That old ploy works every time. 3-0.
Must have been 20-0 overall?

Talk turned to Bob Nicholson over soup and sarnies, plus Mark recounting the variety of objects that can be transported on a bike in Hanoi. Dunbar seem ready to chop their second team at xmas as they only have 9 players for 2 teams.

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Results of 2008 Winter League 2

This was our busiest league yet with 15 leagues of 6 competing and an amazing total of 170 games played. This represents 78% of the possible games played, or 85% if I take into account the handful of players who were injured or did not make themselves available.

The results of the league are here ..... 2008 Winter League 2

There were 8 players gaining promotion with an unbeaten record - Brian Buchanan, Mark Dutton, Tim Hannay, Jules Lutte, Andrew Claymore, Alastair Ross, Tim Ferguson and Michal Gorczewski. Let's see if they can keep up this record in a higher league!
Nick Ford and Jonathan Frame are leading so far on total points scored with 67, along with 12 other players, they have played all 10 available games so far. Overall we have 60 players who have played 6 or more games over the first two leagues - no wonder the courts are busy.

With new players coming in and only a few injuries (commiserations and speedy recovery to Pete Tweedie with his snapped Achilles) and departures (good luck to Alasdair McLeish as he jets off to Oz!) we have enough for 16 leagues this time.

For those interested, here is the full set of new leagues (New players coming in are starred)..... 2008 Winter League 3

Good luck and enjoy your games!

Dougie Brown

Seconds Home to EU Students 2 (Tues 11th Nov 2008)

A tough night against the the younger generation, who actually seemed quite fit, despite their boozing and partying!

Pete C got off to a good start against Rick Keating, then got blitzed in the next two as Rick foumd the pace of the courts. Pete upped the aggression in the 4th and came close, but finally went down 10-8 (1-3). Mike Scott found Pete Brierley too steady in the first two, but came back strongly to take the 3rd 9-1. Unfortunately Pete regained his composure to close out in the 4th (1-3).
Dougie could see a potential granny after the first against Ben from Jersey, but competed better in the next two including a big lead in the third, but couldn't finish it off (0-3). Alan competed in a lot of rallies against Henry Pearce and was in all three games, but again the younger man prevailed (0-3).
Rob was up against a bit of a star in Ben Carpenter at 1, who admitted afterwards to playing his best game of the season. Great deception and some impossible boasts. Rob didn't play his best, but then Ben didn't let him get into the game (0-3).

Overall a convincing loss (4-20) against definite promotion contenders. Their club seems a bit like Grange - membership up from 35 to 110 in two years and very competitive. Maybe squash really has turned the corner?

Afterwards they were salivating over the Francos pizzas, the San Miguel was flowing and the kitty went into deficit! (DB)

Grange Open 2008 - Results/Scores!

Called up for the prizes were...

Front: Elaine Inglis(Ladies champ), Brydie MacLearnon(Ladies R-up & Titan Sports sponsors), Eric Donohoe(C winner), Dougie Brown(C R-up)
Middle: Karen Kennedy (Ladies plate), Allan Tasker (Open R-up), Peter O'Hara(Open champ), Chris Mair (B winner), Craig Pounder (B plate), Nick Wood(B R-up), Andy MacLearnon (Titan Sports, sponsors)
Back: Jonathan Frame (C plate), Jonathan McBride (Open plate)


Open scores (A grade)
Ladies scores
B grade scores
C grade scores

Sunday 9 November 2008

Grange III home v Inveresk (Thurs, Nov 6,'08)

Dougie had emailed Inveresk to make sure they turned up at St George's. Russell Langley had a bad head cold but manfully took on their #5 Robin Carse. Our man Russell edged a tight first game 10-8 (lesson learned ;-) which took the wind out of Robin's sails not to mention his lobs and drops, Russell eased the next 2 games; 3-0.
Peter Cockburn found himself slumming it at #3 but up against the stylish Harold. He went from 0-1 down to 2-1 up, went to sleep for the fourth but picked himself up for the fifth and took it; 3-2. The best Cockburn team performance I've witnessed.

Jonathan Frame was up against the evergreen Willie Wood at #4, won the first but Willie dialled in the lobs and drops to take 3 in a row; 1-3. Christy at #2 has had numerous battles with John Brown, this time he was flat as a pancake for a straight games loss.
Dougie at #1 was up against Adam Lord who last time I saw him was a 5 foot nothing whippet, now he's a 6 foot nothing powerhouse. For a 3-0 loss, it was a gripping match with Dougie doing everything to discomfit the young man while the young man pulled some amazing shots out of the bag, interspersed with with some glaring tins.
Overall 7-15. Back at the pavilion, talk turned to Tweedster's achilles mishap and, somewhat more seriously, Bob Nicholson's death after finishing his match with ex-Grange man John Graham just 2 nights before. Air dheis De' go raibh a h-anam (RIP). (CL)

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Firsts away v Watsonians 2 (Wed 05.11.08)

A close contest at Myreside.

Al was outclassed in the warm up by Mick Hay, but won the games 3-0.
Mike Perring lost to John Walbaum 2-3.
Brian beat Mike Robson with tight squash 3-0.
Ian lost to the efficient Colin Grant 0-3 at no.1.
That left the decider to Allan Hamer against Chris Wier at no.2. His first appearance of the season and outstanding court coverage as usual. It was a dead cert, 3-0.

Robin Pollock was out supporting, and will give us his verdict on Grange, Watsonians or Heros at 9pm on the BBC for entertainment value and supernatural powers.

Overall 3-2, 16-8 on points.

Next week it's back to Myreside for Watsonians 3. No room for complacency though, they're going as well as their 2nds so far.

Saturday 1 November 2008

Firsts home v Linlithgow 1 (Wed 29.10.08)


Linlithgow finished 4th last season, so a strong side.

Will beat Marc Osbourne 3-0 in convincing style.
Al lost to Derek Graham 1-3.
Chris beat Gordon Henderson 3-0.

Brian lost to Roy Miller 1-3.
Ian and the Titanic Andy McLearnon played the decider, 10-8 in the fifth to Grange!

Overall 3-2, 16-10 on points.